Clock



(No Model.) 3 Sheets-'Sheet 1.

J. T.'LONG.

CLOCK. N0. 555,387. Patented Feb, 25, 1896.

3 Sheets-Sheet 2. J. T. LONG.

(No Model.)

GLOGK,

6 9 8 1. .O.. 2 1D, QU F .w o m@ e t a u P lll A aaneen-sheet s. J. T.LONG. CLOCK.

No. 555,387. Patented Peb. 25, 1896.

a/My..

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

.IOIIN TURNER LONG, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

CLOCK.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 555,387, dated February25, 1896.

Application filed June 15, 1895. Serial No. 552,870. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN TURNER LONG, of Chicago, in the county of Cookand State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvementsin Clocks; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear,and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, which form apart of this specification.

This invention relates to improvements in clocks or timepieces, and itsobject is to provide a construction of the same which shall enable thetime to be easily and correctly read or noted, with less liability oferror than in the case of clocks as heretofore commonly made, and shallat the same time be simple in character and economical to make.

The invention consists in the matters hereinafter described and pointedout in the appended claims.

It has been proposed heretofore to employ in place of the usualclock-dial, graduated for hours and minutes and having fast and sloWmoving hands, revolving hour and minute disks having figures thereonwhich are brought successively by an intermittent movement of said disksopposite apertures in the dial or face-plate of the timepiece. IVhilethe timepieces thus constructed have the advantage that the time may bedirectly read or noted therefrom Without liability of error by mistakingone hand for the other or like causes such as exist in the ordinaryclock, the mechanism for operating the two revolving disks has largelyincreased the Working parts of such timepieces and made them much moreexpensive to construct than the ordinary clock With two hands. I pro-ypose to secure the same result of direct reading of the timepiece, Whilepreserving a sim-V ple construction thereof, by employing in connectionWith the main shaft of an ordinary clock-movement to which theminutehand is directly attached a dial marked for minutes and providedWith an opening together with a disk or other moving part carrying aseries of numbers for indicating hours, Which are adapted to be broughtsuccessively opposite the opening in the dial, and a device forintermittently operating such moving` part, which device is actuateddirectly from the minute-hand shaft and is of simple character, so thatthe suitable operation of the movable part indicating hours is securedby mechanism, Which takes the place of the ordinary gear connectionbetween the minute-hand shaft and the hour-hand of aclock. The timepiecethus made is as a Whole no more complicated or expensive to constructthan the ordinary two-handed clock.

In addition to the general features of construction above referred to,the invention includes also other novel features of construction in atimepiece of the character described, as Will be hereinafter fullydescribed and pointed out in the appended claims.

In the accompanying draWiu gs, illustrating my invention, Figure l is afront elevation of face view of a clock constructed in accordance Withmy invention, and in Which the passage of the hours is indicated by theexposure of successive numerals, While the passage of the minutes isindicated in the usual manner by a rotary minute-hand Which moves arounda suitably-graduated dial. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of so much of saidclock as relates to the present invention. Fig. 3 is a rear sectionalelevation taken on line 3 3 of Fig. 4C. Fig. 4 is a top plan view of thedevice.

In said drawings, A designates the faceplate of the clock, and A theusual circular dial marked thereon, said dial being graduated With sixtydivisions a to indicate the minutes.

B is a rotary minute-hand rigidly secured to the end of a shaft C, whichprojects through the face-plate A at the center of the dial A. The shaftC is actuated by any usual or suitable form of clock movement-as, forin* stance, by a Weight or spring acting under the control of anescapement mechanism, by Which the movement is maintained at a uniformrate of speed-but such clock-movement constitutes no part of myinvention, and is accordingly not illustrated herein.

D designates a rotary disk mounted loosely upon the shaft C immediatelybehind the face-plate A and provided on its front face with acircularseries of numerals d, which are adapted to be successivelyexposed through an aperture a in said face-plate. Said numerals areherein shown as arranged in a circle of about the same size as the outercircumfer- IOO ence of the dial A', and the aperture c is locatedcentrally of the top of said dial and cuts through the latter just abovethe circle of minute-gradnations a. rlhe numerals d are herein shown asrunning from l to l2 in regular succession, in accordance with theordinary system of counting time by twelve-hour intervals, and anintermittent rotary movement is given the disk D, by which a succeedingnumeral is exposed as often as the minute-hand B completes its circuit,or at the end of each hour. In the mechanism for intermittentlyactuating said disk, E designates a ratchet-wheel securely fastened tothe back of the disk D, concentrieally therewith, and provided withtwelve notches or teeth e corresponding with the twelve numerals d ofthe disk D.

F is an oscillatory lever pivotally mounted on the shaft C immediatelybehind the ratchetwheel E and provided with a pivoted pawl f, whichoperatively engages the teeth e of the ratchet. One end of the lever Fextends radially outward beyond the edge vof the disk D and is normallyheld against a fixed stoppin a2 on the back of the face-plate A by meansof a spring l, which is secured at one end to the end of said lever Fand at its other end to a hook a3 on the back of the face-plate A. Theother end of the lever F extends in the opposite direction past the edgeof the ratchet-wheel E and bears the pawl f at its extremity. The rearend or tail of said pawl is bent inward along the lever F, and a spring3 5 j" is applied between the tail of the pawl and the lever to pressthe point of the pawl against the ratchet-teeth c.

II designates a rotary arm rigidly attached to the shaft C, so as torotate therewith, and located immediately back of the lever F. At itsouter end said arm is provided with a forwardly-projecting pin bs, whichis adapted to engage a latch F on the lever F ence in each revolution ofthe arm. Said latch F is herein shown as pivoted at f2 to alaterally-projecting lug]C3 of the lever and is formed with a head f",which is thickened or offset on its rear side se as afford a shoulderf5, facing in the direction from which the pin l) approaches. Said pin his short enough to clear the main body portion of the latch, but longenough to engage said shoulder, and by its engagement with the latterserves to swing the lever F forward on its pivot until the pawlf of thelever engages the next succeeding tooth of the ratchet. rIhe rear end ortail f of the latch F rides during this forward movement of the leverupon a stationary pin i, which projects from the extremity of an arm I,that .is fastened tothe back of the plate A, and said rear end, f6, isso shaped that by reason of such contact with the pin t' the latch isgradually oscillated until the pin 7L slips off the shoulder f5 thereof.Being thus freed from connection with the arm II the lever F is free toreturn to its normal position against the stop a2 under the tension ofthe spring G and in its return movement operates through its pawl j torotate the ratchet-wheel E through an angular distance corresponding toone ratchet-tooth or one-twelfth part of a complete rotation. Suchmovement of the ratchetwheel will obviously cause equal angular movementin the disk D, which is secured thereto, and will consequently cause thenext succeeding number d to be exposed at the aperture a of theface-plate. rIhe latch F in the meantime is forced back to its normalposition, as the lever F returns, by a spring f7, applied between thelever and the latch, and the latter is thus left in proper position tobe engaged by the pin 71, in the next rotation of the arm II. To preventthe disk D from being rot-ated more than one-twelfth of a completerevolution under the impulse iinparted by the return movement of thelever F, I provide a suitable brake or stop meehanism, which in thisinstance consists of a spring-arm J, that is fastened at its base j tothe back of the face-plate A and the free extremity of which is arrangedto press against the periphery of the disk D. Twelve marginal notches dare provided on the latter, and the spring-arm J is formed with aV-shaped headj', which is adapted to enter either of said notches andtemporarily restrain the disk from further movement. rlhe arm J :islifted at the proper moment to free the disk by an outwardly-projeetinglug]U8 on the ear or tail end j of the latch F', said lug being providedwith a pin f, which projects between the arm J and the periphery of thedisk D. XVhen the latch is carried forward by the contact of the arm IIthe pin f') is moved toward t-hc f ree end of the spring-arm J andgradually forces the said spring away from the disk as the latch isoscillated by riding upon the pin 'L'. The spring J is in this mannerlifted clear of the adjacent notch d' of the disk just before the leverF is released from the arm II and leaves the disk free to rotate inthereturn movement of said lever. As the latch F' is carried back with thelever the pin f moves inwardly and permits the head j of the arm J tobear against the disk D, so as to act as a brake thereon, and when themovement of the disk is completed said head 7" of the arm J drops intothe next succeeding notch d and. locks the disk against further movementat that time.

In the particular construction shown, the lever F is arranged in asubstantially vertical position and the springs G and J and arm I arelocated at the upper portion of the device, but their operation wouldobviously be the same if otherwise located, provided the relativearrangement of the several parts remain substantially undisturbed. Itwill, furthermore, be obvious that the details of the construction shownmay be varied inv many particulars without departing from the spirit ofmy invention.

IOC)

IIC

The features of construction herein described may be applied to watchesas well as to clocks.

A timepiece constructed as above described has the important advantageof being used with much less liability to error in noting the time thanthe ordinary two-handed clocks, while at the same time its mechanism isso simple that it may be constructed at a cost not materially greaterthan that of the ordinary clock. The advantage in noting the time arisesfrom the fact that the hour will be in such clock at all times displayedin plain figures while the minute will be indicated by a single hand andalso in plain figures.

The special value of a clock of this kind is for use in cases where thecorrect observation of time is important, as in the case of clocks orWatches used for running trains on railroads. It has been found that inthe use of an ordinary two-handed clock or Watch, errors are likely tooccur, especially where the observer is hurried or where the timepieceis in a poor light or in a position where it cannot be clearly seen,errors being especially liable to occur by reason of the observerfailing to distinguish between the long and short hands of thetimepiece. In a timepiece constructed as herein shown, the time may beread in hours and minutes exactly as they are noted or written down ontime-tables or in the note-books and memoranda of railroad operators, nointermediate mental process being required in ascertaining the time,which is noted directly from the figures indicated by the clock. Vhilethis latter fact is also true of clocks heretofore made having movabledisks for indicating both hours and minutes, yet the latter have thedisadvantage of being much more expensive to construct and involving agreater complication of mechanism than an ordinary clock, while theclock herein shown is simple in construction, may be cheaplymanufactured, andwill be durable and reliable in use.

I claim as my inventionl. The combination with the main shaft, of aclock-movement and a minute-hand secured thereto, of a rotary hour-diskmounted concentrically with the shaft, an oscillatory lever mountedconcentrically With the shaft and having a pawl-and-ratchet connectionwith said disk, an arm rigidly attached to the shaft, a latch pivotallysecured to said lever and adapted to engage said arm in each revolutionof the shaft, a stop for oscillating the latch to release the lever fromthe arm after a predetermined movement therewith, and a spring forreturning the arm to its normal position after such release,substantially as described.

2. The combination with the main shaft, of a clock-movement and aminute-hand secured thereto, of a rotary hour-disk mountedconcentrically with said shaft, an oscillatory lever pivotedconcentrically with the shaft and having a pawl-and-ratchet connectionwith the disk, a rigid arm on said shaft, a latch pivotally secured tosaid lever and adapted to engage said arm in each revolution of theshaft, a stop for oscillating the latch so as to release thelever fromthe arm after a predetermined movement therewith, a spring for returningthe arm to its normal condition after such release, a brake acting onthe disk to control the movement thereof, and means carried by the leveracting to release the brake from the disk to permit the turning of thelatter, substantially as described.

3. The combination with the main shaft, of a clock-movement and aminute-hand secured thereto, of a rotary hour-disk mountedconcentrically with said shaft, said hour-disk having ratchet-teeth nearits center and marginal notches equal in number to said teeth, anoscillatory lever mounted concentrically with the shaft and having apaWl engaging the ratchet-teeth of the disk, a ratchet-arm on the saidshaft, a latch pivotally mounted on the lever and adapted to engage thearm in each rotation of the shaft, a stop for oscillating said latch torelease the lever from the arm after a predetermined movement therewith,and a stationary spring-arm engaging the notched periphery of the disk,said latch being constructed to release the spring-arm from the notchesof the disk to permit the turning of the latter, substantially asdescribed.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention I affix mysignature, in presence of two witnesses, this 12th day of June, A. D.1895.

. JOHN TURNER LONG. Witnesses:

WILLIAM L. HALL, WILLIs D. SHAFER.

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